A REJOINDER FROM THE MAZI ORGANISATION
In a second press release within 48 hours -a record for knee-jerk governance -the Honourable Commissioner for Information, Declan Emelumba, has served up yet another stew of political name-calling, constitutional distortions, and the most troubling of all -the resurrection of an obsolete military-era sedition law as a veiled threat against lawful public criticism.
That in 2025, in a constitutional democracy, a government would even contemplate invoking sedition to silence a citizen whose “crime” is demanding transparency in the use of billions of naira allocated to local governments is both puerile and scandalous.
This latest weaponisation of sedition reveals the true face of the Uzodimma administration -a government visibly rattled by the prospect of real accountability.
Sedition Is Dead in Law — Stop Digging It Up
We remind the government that sedition laws have long been buried by Nigerian courts, including in Arthur Nwankwo v. The State (1985), where the Court of Appeal held them inconsistent with constitutional guarantees of free expression. By citing sedition, this administration is clinging to the cobwebs of military authoritarianism, ripping a page from the darkest chapters of our political history.
A government with nothing to hide responds with facts -not with archaic legal threats.
The Emperor Complex in Public Office
One of the enduring tragedies of public life in Nigeria is the “maximum leader” syndrome -the delusion that public office confers divine infallibility. In civilised societies, leaders are addressed simply as President, Prime Minister, or Governor, and see themselves as public servants, not demigods. Yet here, insecure leaders brandish empty titles and accuse citizens of sedition for asking legitimate questions.
Misusing Big Words, Missing the Point
Emelumba and his underperforming team still cannot distinguish between sedition and constructive criticism. Incitement is the encouragement of crime; sedition is an organised call to overthrow government. Dr. Chima Matthew Amadi’s speech at the Catholic Men Organisation seminar was neither. It was a constitutionally protected call for accountability in governance.
To suggest that the CMO -a gathering of accomplished men including lawyers -would allow their platform to be used for sedition is an insult to their integrity.
The Real Issue -Local Government Funds
No volume of personal attacks will erase the central fact: from 2019 to date, Imo’s 27 LGAs have collectively received hundreds of billions of naira in FAAC allocations. Even using only the monthly allocations of Ideato North and South as a benchmark, the sums are enough to:
- Pave rural roads,
- Build functional primary healthcare centres,
- Secure communities with modern surveillance and patrol infrastructure.
Yet the state government has refused to:
- Publish full LGA-by-LGA FAAC receipts from 2019 to date,
- Publish audited expenditure reports signed by LGA treasurers,
- Provide a project-by-project accounting of these funds.
If every kobo was spent as claimed, why hide the records?
On Maternal Mortality
The government dismisses our figures as “false” without producing verifiable, official data from NBS, NDHS, or WHO. Instead, it waves around numbers from StateofStates and an unnamed “international health journal” -neither of which are the official custodians of Nigeria’s health statistics.
If the true figure is 163 deaths per 100,000 live births, then:
- Publish the source, methodology, and year-by-year breakdown.
- Allow unannounced independent inspections of PHCs across all LGAs.
Conclusion
Imo people are not fooled. The attempt to distract from the central demand -account for the billions allocated to LGAs -by invoking dead sedition laws and hurling personal insults is a mark of desperation.
Dr. Chima Matthew Amadi will not be intimidated. He will continue to use his constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech to press for governance that is accountable, transparent, responsive, and lawful.
If the Uzodimma administration truly believes in its record, let it prove it with open books, not open threats.
Cajetan Duke is the spokesperson of the Mazi Organization.
